The Most on Time and Least on Time Airlines by Airport

Picture this: You're sitting at the airport, anxiously awaiting the arrival of your plane to head off to your much-deserved vacation. Then, the airline attendant announces the much-dreaded flight delay. Whether the delay is 30 minutes long or a few hours, there's no denying it's a frustrating experience altogether. Analyzing 2018 flight data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, we examined which airlines were most on-time and least on-time to their gates and broke down these rankings by airport.

Highlights

Alaska Airlines is the most on-time airline at New York City's JFK and LGA with average departure delays of just seven and nine minutes, respectively.

Travelers flying out of Chicago's ORD should expect departure delays from 10 to 32 minutes.

Despite being based out of Atlanta, Delta Air Lines is the second most on-time airline at ATL airport (next to Alaska Airlines).

Most On-Time Airlines by Airport

Airport

City

Airline

Average departure delay

ATL

Atlanta

Alaska Airlines

5 minutes

AUS

Austin

Alaska Airlines

3 minutes

BNA

Nashville

American Airlines

10 minutes

BOS

Boston

Alaska Airlines

7 minutes

BWI

Baltimore

Spirit Airlines

10 minutes

CLE

Cleveland

Southwest Airlines

7 minutes

CLT

Charlotte

Delta Air Lines

10 minutes

CMH

Columbus

Spirit Air Lines

2 minutes

CVG

Cincinnati

Southwest Airlines

6 minutes

DAL

Dallas

Delta Air Lines

10 minutes

DCA

D.C.

Alaska Airlines

7 minutes

DEN

Denver

Alaska Airlines

5 minutes

DFW

Dallas/Ft.Worth

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

DTW

Detroit

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

EWR

Newark

Allegiant Air

5 minutes

FLL

Ft. Lauderdale

American Airlines

8 minutes

HNL

Honolulu

Hawaiian Airlines

1 minute

HOU

Houston

Delta Air Lines

5 minutes

IAD

D.C.

Virgin America

2 minutes

IAH

Houston

Frontier Airlines

5 minutes

IND

Indianapolis

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

JFK

New York City

Alaska Airlines

7 minutes

LAS

Las Vegas

Alaska Airlines

4 minutes

LAX

Los Angeles

United Air Lines

6 minutes

LGA

New York City

Alaska Airlines

9 minutes

MCI

Kansas City

Alaska Airlines

5 minutes

MCO

Orlando

Alaska Airlines

7 minutes

MDW

Chicago

Delta Air Lines

8 minutes

MIA

Miami

American Airlines

11 minutes

MSP

Minneapolis

Alaska Airlines

1 minute

MSY

New Orleans

American Airlines

6 minutes

OAK

Oakland

Alaska Airlines

1 minute

OGG

Maui

American Airlines

0 minutes

ORD

Chicago

Alaska Airlines

10 minutes

PDX

Portland

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

PHL

Philadelphia

Alaska Airlines

5 minutes

PHX

Phoenix

Alaska Airlines

1 minute

PIT

Pittsburgh

Alaska Airlines

3 minutes

RDU

Raleigh

Virgin America

3 minutes

RSW

Fort Myers

Delta Air Lines

6 minutes

SAN

San Diego

Alaska Airlines

4 minutes

SAT

San Antonio

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

SEA

Seattle

Alaska Airlines

5 minutes

SFO

San Francisco

Alaska Airlines

10 minutes

SJC

San Jose

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

SLC

Salt Lake City

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

SMF

Sacramento

Alaska Airlines

0 minutes

SNA

Santa Ana

Alaska Airlines

2 minutes

STL

St. Louis

Alaska Airlines

-1 minute

TPA

Tampa

Alaska Airlines

6 minutes

A negative average departure delay denotes an average early departure. A zero-minute delay denotes an on-time average departure.

Least On-Time Airlines by Airport

Airport

City

Airline

Average departure delay

ATL

Atlanta

JetBlue Airways

20 minutes

AUS

Austin

Frontier Airlines

23 minutes

BNA

Nashville

Virgin America

24 minutes

BOS

Boston

Spirit Air Lines

16 minutes

BWI

Baltimore

Virgin America

23 minutes

CLE

Cleveland

Allegiant Air

18 minutes

CLT

Charlotte

JetBlue Airways

22 minutes

CMH

Columbus

Frontier Airlines

21 minutes

CVG

Cincinnati

Frontier Airlines

14 minutes

DAL

Dallas

Southwest Airlines

14 minutes

DCA

D.C.

Virgin America

17 minutes

DEN

Denver

JetBlue Airways

21 minutes

DFW

Dallas

JetBlue Airways

27 minutes

DTW

Detroit

Frontier Airlines

21 minutes

EWR

Newark

JetBlue Airways

24 minutes

FLL

Ft. Lauderdale

Frontier Airlines

29 minutes

HNL

Honolulu

Virgin America

26 minutes

HOU

Houston

JetBlue Airways

26 minutes

IAD

D.C.

Frontier Airlines

21 minutes

IAH

Houston

Delta Air Lines

13 minutes

IND

Indianapolis

Allegiant Air

17 minutes

JFK

New York City

JetBlue Airways

13 minutes

LAS

Las Vegas

Frontier Airlines

19 minutes

LAX

Los Angeles

Frontier Airlines

14 minutes

LGA

New York City

Frontier Airlines

19 minutes

MCI

Kansas City

Allegiant Air

13 minutes

MCO

Orlando

JetBlue Airways

21 minutes

MDW

Chicago

Southwest Airlines

16 minutes

MIA

Miami

United Air Lines

16 minutes

MSP

Minneapolis

Frontier Airlines

17 minutes

MSY

New Orleans

Virgin America

25 minutes

OAK

Oakland

Allegiant Air

18 minutes

OGG

Maui

Virgin America

14 minutes

ORD

Chicago

JetBlue Airways

32 minutes

PDX

Portland

Hawaiian Airlines

18 minutes

PHL

Philadelphia

Frontier Airlines

22 minutes

PHX

Phoenix

JetBlue Airways

20 minute

PIT

Pittsburgh

Frontier Airlines

20 minutes

RDU

Raleigh

Allegiant Air

22 minutes

RSW

Fort Myers

JetBlue Airways

23 minutes

SAN

San Diego

Frontier Airlines

21 minutes

SAT

San Antonio

Allegiant Air

27 minutes

SEA

Seattle

Frontier Airlines

22 minutes

SFO

San Francisco

Frontier Airlines

30 minutes

SJC

San Jose

Frontier Airlines

24 minutes

SLC

Salt Lake City

JetBlue Airways

17 minutes

SMF

Sacramento

Frontier Airlines

22 minutes

SNA

Santa Ana

Frontier Airlines

13 minutes

STL

St. Louis

Frontier Airlines

18 minutes

TPA

Tampa

Frontier Airlines

24 minutes

A negative average departure delay denotes an average early departure. A zero-minute delay denotes an on-time average departure.

New York City (JFK, LGA, EWR): Fly Alaska Airlines and Avoid JetBlue Airways

New Yorkers have plenty of airports to choose from, but as it turns out, airline performance doesn't vary much among the city's airports. For example, Alaska Airlines is the most on-time airline at JFK and LGA while the second-most on-time airline at EWR. JetBlue Airways finished as the most-delayed airline at JFK and EWR and third-most delayed at LGA. You can find the average departure delay time by airline across the three major New York City airports below.

Rank

JFK

LGA

EWR

1

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines

Allegiant Air

7 min

9 min

5 min

2

Virgin America

American Airlines

Alaska Airlines

9 min

10 min

11 min

3

American Airlines

United Air Lines

American Airlines

9 min

13 min

12 min

4

Hawaiian Airlines

Spirit Air Lines

Spirit Air Lines

10 min

14 min

12 min

5

Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines

Virgin America

12 min

14 min

13 min

6

JetBlue Airways

JetBlue Airways

United Air Lines

13 min

17 min

17 min

7

Southwest Airlines

Southwest Airlines

18 min

19 min

8

Frontier Airlines

Delta Air Lines

19 min

21 min

9

JetBlue Airways

24 min

JetBlue Airways Average Departure Delay by Airport

If you're flying out of New York City with JetBlue Airways, there's a good chance your flight will be delayed by more than 10 minutes. The average departure delay time for JetBlue Airways flights out of EWR is 24 minutes. JetBlue performs a little better at LGA and JFK, but it's still among the worst-performing airlines at those airports.

Los Angeles (LAX): Relatively Short Departure Delays

Compared to other large airports, LAX's departure delays are relatively short. United Air Lines is the most on-time airline at LAX, with an average delay of only six minutes. The least on-time airlines at LAX are Frontier Airlines and Southwest Airlines, which are each delayed by 14 minutes on average.

Chicago (ORD): 10- to 32-Minute Average Departure Delays at ORD

Passengers flying out of Chicago's ORD should expect long departure
delays ranging from 10 to 32 minutes. The most on-time airline at ORD is Alaska Airlines with an average departure delay of 10 minutes, which is still on the higher end of the scale compared to other airports.

Average Departure Delays at Chicago's MDW

Atlanta's ATL: Delta Air Lines Is Second-Most On-Time Airline at ATL

Alaska Airlines is the most on-time airline at ATL, with an average departure delay of only five minutes. Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines and American Airlines tie for second-most on-time airline with an average delay of nine minutes. Interestingly, Delta Air Lines is based out of Atlanta, and ATL serves as a major hub.

Other Notable Airports

Alaska Airlines is the most on-time airline at Dallas' DFW by a large nine-minute margin. JetBlue Airways is the least on-time airline with an average of 27 minutes. All other airlines at DFW are delayed by 11 to 16 minutes.

Alaska Airlines is also the most on-time airline at Denver's DEN, with an average departure delay of just five minutes. JetBlue Airways and Allegiant Air are each delayed by 21 minutes on average, which is four times greater than Alaska Airlines' delay.

All airlines are fairly competitive when it comes to leaving on time from San Francisco's SFO. The only outlier is Frontier Airlines, which has an average departure delay of 30 minutes. That's three times greater than the most on-time airline, Alaska Airlines, which is typically delayed by 10 minutes.

Tips for Dealing With Airport Delays

The good news is that as long as you remain flexible, you should be able to get to your destination. Using these tips can help get you there faster or with less hassle.

Call the airline immediately. As soon as the flight attendant announces a delay, most people rush the front desk. Use this to your advantage and call the airline directly from your cellphone. Not only will it be faster most of the time, but the entire ordeal will likely be calmer since the phone agent doesn't have to deal with other irate passengers in line.

Take advantage of airport lounges. If you'll have to stick around the airport for a few hours before your rescheduled flight, then take advantage of airport lounges. Many credit cards, especially co-branded airline cards, offer complimentary lounge access. You may already have one of these cards in your wallet. If not, you can always shell out the $40 to $100 to enjoy drinks, food and shower suites while you wait for your flight to arrive.

Check your wallet. Some premium travel rewards credit cards offer trip delay insurance on flights you book using the card. The benefit typically covers things like hotel nights, clothing and certain expenses like toiletries. Since most credit cards offer varying coverage, we recommend contacting your own credit card company with any questions about your coverage.

Get your money back. Even if you purchased a nonrefundable ticket, you can usually get your money back if your flight was seriously delayed. Airlines will typically offer to rebook at a later time, but if it doesn't work for your plans, then don't feel like you have to accept.

Methodology

We used the last 12 months' worth of data available from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. To calculate the average departure delay, we took an average of each airline's reported departure delays over that same time period. Airlines were then ranked from lowest average departure delay to highest by airport. Please note that Virgin America has since been acquired by Alaska Airlines.

Joe Resendiz is a former investment banking analyst for Goldman Sachs, where he covered public sector and infrastructure financing. During his time on Wall Street, Joe worked closely with the debt capital markets team, which allowed him to gain unique insights into the credit market. Joe is currently a research analyst who covers credit cards and the payments industry. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, where he majored in finance.

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